Vincent Devours Food!

Last night, Vincent was whining all night, so I gave him another two rounds of food (only kibble), which he devour like he’s not eaten for decades!

I let him out of the cage to stretch himself and he did not even leave the patio. Instead, he stayed around us and in this typical Vincent-super-manja style, asked us to cuddle him.  Then, I put him back into the cage for the night.

He whined all night…!

I guessed he’d already felt much better and was wondering why I still had to confine him in the cage.

This morning, I was awakened by his whining again. I came down and saw he had made a complete mess of the cage. Litter was scattered everywhere and the whole litter box was moved. Vincent sitting on the higher shelf. I offered him a bowl of kibble (laced with turmeric and fish oil) but this time, he just kept whining and refused to eat!

So, I thought I should let him out to eat, maybe he just didn’t want to be caged anymore.

When I let him out, he still refused to eat and kept looking around. Then I realised what he wanted – he wanted wetfood! I had even poured some gravy onto his kibble, but that wasn’t enough for him.

He looked at the rest of the cats’ food and tried to eat some of Daffodil’s food. Daffodil, as you know, is the mother-of-the-year and would gladly move away should any other cat want her food.

I had to make Vincent eat the turmeric and fish oil in his kibble, so the only way was to give him a teaspoon of wetfood. I did this and Vincent ate it all up. The one teaspoon of wetfood wasn’t enough, I could see this. But that’s all he can have for these next few days as we want the pockets in his gums to heal.

Ginger is wondering why Vincent is getting so much attention.

Hey, I want the fish oil too!

Zurik is looking at the mess Vincent created in the cage.

Vincent seems so much happier now that he is able to eat. I presume most of the pain is gone now.

I’m so glad!!

Here’s a quick recap of what happened to Vincent and why we opted to do what we did:

Vincent had gum inflammation (stomatitis, periodontitis, gingivitis, faucitis are the common names for this condition). I first noticed it when he stopped eating. The first vet gave him a subcut steroid injection and put him on a week’s antibiotics. That helped keep the problem at bay, but it did not solve the problem. In any case, the problem cannot be solve, only managed. That didn’t quite manage it either. The trouble with using antibiotics is that it may create resistant bacteria and if Vincent needed it on the long term, he’d have to be given stronger antibiotics each time (not a good option at all).

Vincent was also on turmeric, fish oil and Transfer Factor but the problem came back and after a month, he stopped eating again.

The next course of action was to remove bad teeth, if any. Though this sounds drastic, it was the lesser of the two evils as one can still eat without teeth but one will die if one cannot eat anymore. Moreover, there was pus in mouth and this bacteria could go into his blood stream and damage his liver, kidneys and heart. Once the kidneys and heart are damaged, there is no repair.

So we opted for tooth extraction but only of the “bad teeth”. As it turned out, there were only two teeth which needed to be removed – the vestigial (back) teeth. Steroid injections were given into the inflamed gums too.

To maintain his oral health, Vincent will be on a mostly-kibble diet and fish oil and turmeric will be given daily in his food. Products like Oxyfresh deodoriser (in the drinking water) and pet gel (toothpaste) can also be very helpful in such cases.

Vincent would have to live with this problem and it’s because of how his body (particular his mouth) reacts to the bacteria in the mouth. This problem isn’t new – it’s just that we didn’t realise it before. Vincent has always had bad breath, right from the start – that was an indication. We just didn’t know.

For me, it’s more important that Vincent is able to eat. After all, don’t we all need food to sustain our lives? Thank goodness only two teeth needed to be removed! It’s also important to address oral problems as early as possible as you wouldn’t want the bacteria to cause damage to the liver, kidneys and the heart.

Now, I’m using the pet gel on all the other cats, especially the ones with a hint of bad breath. Will also include turmeric in their food. Turmeric helps reduce inflammation. However, it has to be bio-available turmeric. Either make your own paste (but be aware that pepper can damage the intestines) or buy a quality ready-made product. I learnt that the Anugerah brand seems to work well in cats with stomatitis.

The above is just a sharing. Please consult a veterinarian if your pet has similar symptoms as each pet’s needs are different. Please do not ever self-medicate unless you are a veterinarian.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2016/04/08/vincent-devours-food/

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AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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